Well, this is Death Valley after all.

if anyplace gives you a reason to look tough, Death Valley should be one of them.

I am wishing that I were tougher than I am today. My tonsils are sqeeaazing my voice into a small whisper or squeak.

I am pale and mostly weak. Which means that all the things I would like to be doing, I must forgo. No more working on the door refinish project.

I must REST.

and no cleaning out the house in preparation of the puppy.

I must REST.

“Can I take a rest from resting?”

“NO!”

but I can, while on hold with the telephony people here at work, admire the face of marshmallow man, making his tough I’m-a-cowboy face.

I can imagine that he will turn around and say “Howdy little Lady…” in his I-was-raised-in-L.A.-but-born-in-Texas accent.

It makes the hold music more bearable.

“…Thank you for calling the helpdesk. Please be prepared to provide your national user ID, a description of the problem, your computer ID and any error message on your equipment. Please stay on the line and your call will be answered in the order recieved by the next available help desk representative….”

At least it’s not the same hold music as they have for the conference-call line. This is classical music; the stuff from the conference calls is new age electronic music.

Well, I’m prepared, but the hold lingers on…